WHISTLEBLOWING
Law and Practice
JOHN BOWERS QC
MARTIN FODDER
JEREMY LEWIS
JACK MITCHELL
Third Cumulative Supplement to the book published in 2012 by
Oxford University Press
May 12, 2014
Introduction
Whistleblowing continues to be in the general and legal news and the recent spate of
case law spurs this further edition of the updater hard on the heels of the last one. We
would draw the reader’s attention to Panayiotou v Kernaghan discussed under chapter
7 and Blackbay Ventures Limited T/A Chemistree v Ghahir discussed under chapters 3
and 7.
Reform
On 25 April 2013 the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (“ERRA”)
received Royal Assent. It introduced the first major legislative changes to the
whistleblowing provisions first brought in by the Public Interest Disclosure Act
1998:-
•
A disclosure no longer qualifies for protection unless the worker reasonably
believes it is “made in the public interest”. That qualification applies to all
disclosures without exception.
•
But, secondly, protection no longer depends on the disclosure having been
made in good faith. Instead lack of good faith can lead to a reduction in
compensation of up to 25%.
•
Employers will be vicariously liable for whistleblowing victimisation by
workers and agents, subject to a defence in relation to workers (but not agents)
of taking all reasonable steps to prevent this. Liability is also imposed on the
worker or agent.
•
There are amendments so as to include certain healthcare professionals who
were identified as outside of the scope of whistleblowing protection due to
their contractual arrangements. There is also provision to extend the categories
of workers to whom protection will apply, which is an issue subject to further
consultation by way of a “Call for Evidence” (see below). Amongst those
falling outside the scope of protection at present are job applicants, partners,
1 LLP members (subject to the outcome of the upcoming appeal to the Supreme
Court in Bates van Winkelhof v Clyde & Co [2012] IRLR 992), volunteers
(unless within s.43K(1)(a) ERA) and non-executive directors.
These changes came into effect on 25th June 2013 as regards any qualifying
disclosure made on or after that date. The previous regime continues to apply to any
claim arising in respect of a prior qualifying disclosure, even if it relates to a
dismissal, or detrimental act or failure to act, on or after 25th June 2013 (s.24(6)
ERRA).
On 12 July 2013 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills launched a Call
for Evidence to look at the current whistleblowing laws, and specifically whether
there is enough support for people to report wrongdoing. More details are available
at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/whistleblowing-framework-call-forevidence albeit that the consultation has now closed and the Department is presently
analysing the evidence received.
Amongst the matters covered by the Call for Evidence were:
1.
Whether the categories of relevant failure are sufficient (bearing in mind that
there is no general catch all category such as where it is in the public interest
that information be disclosed).
2.
Whether the conditions for protection are sufficiently certain, or are sufficient to
encourage whistleblowers to come forward or are likely to deter whistleblowers
from exposing wrongdoing, and what if any changes to them should be made.
3.
Whether in place of the current process where tribunals have a discretion to
refer matters to a regulatory body, there should be a mandatory referral system.
4.
Whether the definition of workers needs to be expanded.
5.
Whether there should be a system of financial incentives for whistleblowers.
Running alongside (but predating) the Call for Evidence, the whistleblowing charity
Public Concern at Work established a Whistleblowing Commission to look at reform.
The Whistleblowing Commission reported its findings in November 2013. More
detailed consideration is outside the scope of this updater but the details are available
are at http://www.pcaw.org.uk/whistleblowing-commission-public-consultation. The
key recommendations were:-
2 •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Secretary of State to adopt the Commission’s Code of Practice detailing
whistleblowing arrangements in the workplace. This Code of Practice to be
taken into account by courts and tribunals when whistleblowing issues
arise. (Rec 1)
Regulators to require or encourage the adoption of this Code of Practice by
those they regulate. (Rec 2)
Regulators should review the licence or registration of organisations which
fail to have in place effective whistleblowing arrangements. (Rec 3)
Regulators to be more transparent about their own whistleblowing
arrangements and annually report on their operations. (Rec 5)
Specific provisions against the blacklisting of whistleblowers. (Rec 10)
Strengthening anti-gagging provisions in the law. (Recs 17 & 18)
Specialist training for tribunal members to handle whistleblowing claims
effectively. (Rec 21)
Strengthening and clarifying the legal protection for whistleblowers contained
within the Public Interest Disclosure Act. (Recs 8-20)
Updating and broadening the definition of worker to include: student nurses,
doctors, social workers and health care workers; volunteers and interns;
priests; foster carers; non-executive directors; public appointments; LLP
members and all categories of workers listed under the Equality Act 2010.
(Rec 10)
Observation
The original spur for reform of PIDA was the perception on the part of the
Government and in certain other quarters that the law protecting whistleblowers was
being abused- in particular by workers raising complaints as to the treatment meted
out to them as individuals as breaches of their employment contract. The introduction
of the new public interest test may be expected to reduce the scope for such “abuse”
and hence the number of claims invoking PIDA. On the other hand the removal of
good faith from liability to remedy might reassure some potential claimants who
would otherwise have been deterred by risk that they might lose their claims
altogether if they were found to have acted otherwise in good faith. Any impact is
unlikely to be immediate, not least because the scope of the new test of being “made
in the public interest” is yet to be tested, and that is in turn liable to be reflected in any
advice given to prospective whistleblowers. In working out what the eventual overall
result of the changes will be it is of course necessary to bear in mind the potentially
chilling effect of the introduction of employment tribunal fees. Whilst whistleblowing
claims tend to be brought by claimants whose potential losses are considerable (and
the cost/benefit ratio may be more favourable than in the more general run of cases)
we would suggest that it may be thought unfortunate that, in addition to the various
other difficulties that confront whistleblowers, there is now added the need to incur
considerable extra expense in issuing their proceedings and getting to a hearing.
3 Chapter 3
The new public interest test
Section 17 of ERRA amended section 43B (1) of the Employment Rights Act so that
it now provides as follows (with the amendments shown underlined):(1) In this Part a "qualifying disclosure" means any disclosure of information
which, in the reasonable belief of the worker making the disclosure, is made in the
public interest and tends to show one or more of the following-(a) that a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely
to be committed,
(b) that a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any
legal obligation to which he is subject,
(c)
that a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur,
(d) that the health or safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to
be endangered,
(e)
that the environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged, or
(f) that information tending to show any matter falling within any one of the
preceding paragraphs has been, or is likely to be deliberately concealed.
The new requirement only applies to a disclosure made on or after 25th June 2013
(ERRA section 103).
Some introductory observations can be made by analogy with the pre-existing
reasonable belief test (see in particular Darnton v University of Surrey [2003] IRLR
133 (EAT) and Babula v Waltham Forest College [2007] ICR 1045 (CA), discussed
in paragraphs 3.26 to 3.41 of the main work). The worker must genuinely believe that
the disclosure is made in the public interest and it must be objectively reasonable,
judged from the worker’s perspective, to hold that belief. A worker who has given no
thought either way to whether the disclosure involves a public interest element cannot
therefore succeed. If however there is plainly a public interest element it is likely to
be relatively straightforward to establish some awareness of and belief as to this.
If a genuine belief is held, a value judgement may then be required but what is
required may depend on the particular circumstances of the worker and the resources
available to them. More might be expected of somebody with expertise in the area or
with the ability and resources to assess the significance of the information: see
Korashi v. Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board [2012] IRLR 4
(EAT).
Bearing these considerations in mind, we suggest that guidance which was issued by
the Government in its June 2013 policy document needs to be treated with
considerable caution. The document commented that:
4 “In future, whistleblowing claims will only be valid where an employee blows
the whistle in relation to a matter for which the disclosure is genuinely in the
public interest. This will exclude breaches of individuals’ employment contracts
and breaches of other legal obligations which do not involve issues of a wider
public interest.”
It is not the case that the disclosure must be “genuinely in the public interest”.
Whether that is intended to convey that it must in fact be in the public interest, or that
it requires only a genuine belief, it fails to reflect the reasonable belief test. As noted
above, the belief must not only be genuine but also reasonable. The question as to
whether it is sufficient that the breach of a legal obligation involves issues of a wider
public interest is discussed at paragraph 3 below.
A number of further questions of interpretation arise:
1.
No definition is provided of “the public interest”- a concept which is not
without its difficulties; see generally Jameel and others v Wall Street Journal
Europe SPRL [2006] UKHL 44, [2007] 1 AC 359 in the context of the
Reynolds defence to a claim of defamation and the cautionary words in Smith
Kline and French Laboratories (Australia) Ltd v Department of Community
Services and Health [1990] FSR 617 Gummow J at 663. In most cases it may
be expected that this will be addressed on the basis that the starting point will be
to hear from the worker as to why it was believed that disclosure was in the
public interest and then to assess if that was a tenable view i.e. that it was
reasonably available to the worker.
2.
There may be an issue as to whether the new test entails a focus on the motive
of the worker making the disclosure. The key issue here is whether the test
indicates that the worker must reasonably believe that making the disclosure is
in the public interest (irrespective of the worker’s motive), or whether it entails
a focus on the worker’s motive for making the disclosure (or indeed whether
both are relevant). Take the example of the claimant, Mrs Street, in Street v
Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centre [2005] ICR 97 (CA), the leading case
on the meaning of the previous good faith test. She made disclosures which
plainly had a public interest element. These included allegations that, in effect,
her boss had engaged in fraud to obtain funding for the Centre at which she
worked. Even though she was found to have had an honest and reasonable
belief that her allegations were substantially true, her claim failed because her
principal reason for making the disclosures was found to be personal
antagonism for her boss. The question then arises as to whether the same would
follow under the new test. Would her ulterior motive mean that her disclosure
was not made in the public interest but was instead made out of personal
antagonism? Or would it be open for her to say that irrespective of her motive
for making the disclosure, she held a reasonable belief that making it was in the
public interest (i.e. that it was in the public interest that the disclosure be made
irrespective of the reason for doing so)?
Taking the revision to s.43B(1) alone it might be thought that there is indeed a
focus on motive. After all, in reaching its decision in Street the Court of Appeal
placed emphasis on the introductory wording of the Public Interest Disclosure
5 Act 1998, as being an Act “to protect individuals who make certain disclosures
of information in the public interest”. This therefore mirrored the language now
inserted in s.43B ERA.
But there are two factors which strongly suggest that the new test is not about
motive. First, the context of the change was that it was intended to reverse the
rule in Parkins v Sodexho where a worker could raise a qualifying disclosure on
the basis of a breach of a legal obligation even if there was no public interest
element to the disclosure. The focus of the change was therefore on the subject
matter of the disclosure rather than on motive. Second, and still more
significantly, at the same time as introducing the new public interest test, the
previous good faith requirement was removed and relegated to a remedy issue.
This clearly contemplated that a claimant could succeed at the liability stage
notwithstanding a predominant ulterior motive for making the disclosure.
Indeed the plain reason for making the change was in recognition that a focus
on the motive for making the disclosure could have an excessive deterrent
effect; encouraging employers to seek to discredit the motives of the
“messenger” rather than listening to the message.
3.
There may be an issue as to whether the test is solely concerned with whether
the disclosure is reasonably believed to involve the public interest, or is also
concerned with whether it also requires a value judgment as to whether in all the
circumstances it was in the public interest that the disclosure be made. By way
of illustration, a worker who is aware of some data from clinical testing which
indicates that the MMR vaccine may have some dangers would no doubt be
able to establish a reasonable belief that a disclosure as to this involves the
public interest. But, having regard to issues of herd immunity, or considerations
as to whether the data has been adequately checked and verified, and also
depending on to whom the disclosure is made, it may not be reasonable to
believe that making the disclosure is in the public interest.
The distinct issues as to whether the disclosure (a) involves the public interest
and (b) whether making it is in the public interest, is brought into focus by the
public interest defence contained in the Defamation Act 2013, which received
Royal Assent on the same day as ERRA (25 April 2013). Section 4 of that Act
provides:
“(1) It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to
show that—
(a) the statement complained of was, or formed part of, a statement on
a matter of public interest; and
(b) the defendant reasonably believed that publishing the statement
complained of was in the public interest.
(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), in determining whether the
defendant has shown the matters mentioned in subsection (1), the court
must have regard to all the circumstances of the case.”
6 At common law it was emphasised that the Reynolds privilege defence entailed
consideration not only of the public interest content, but also of whether the
publication was appropriate in the particular circumstances: see Flood v Times
Newspapers Limited [2012] 2 AC 273 (SC). That is plainly also the case for
the new statutory defence. It might be said that, particularly given that this
legislation received Royal Asset at the same time as the ERRA, it is a strong
indication of the dual elements implicit in the new public interest test in ERRA.
As against that, the different context in which s.4 Defamation Act 2013 is likely
to be applied should not be overlooked. It is most likely to be invoked in the
context of disclosure to the public generally. That is to be contrasted with the
carefully constructed structure for protected disclosures, with its differing
conditions depending on to whom the disclosure is made.
Bearing that
structure in mind, it can be said that where a disclosure is reasonably believed to
involve the public interest, it would be inappropriate to impose on workers the
further hurdle of having to establish a reasonable belief that in all the
circumstances it was in the public interest that the disclosure be made. Instead
the appropriate further conditions to be applied are those provided by ss.43C to
43H depending on to whom the disclosure is made.
The same argument can be put in another way. Even if there is an additional
requirement for a value judgment as to whether disclosure not only involves but
serves the public interest, that could only realistically be of any significance in
first level disclosures (i.e. within ss.43C, 43D or 43E). For wider disclosures
(ss.43G or 43H) there is a requirement that it was reasonable to make the
disclosure in all the circumstances (see paragraphs 5.34 to 5.41 and 5.43 of the
main work for a discussion of these provisions). On any view that is a more
stringent test than the test of a reasonable belief that the disclosure is in the
public interest, since it applies an objective standard rather than a standard of
reasonableness viewed from the worker’s perspective.
It is therefore
inconceivable that a worker, who reasonably believes that a disclosure involves
the public interest, could meet all the requirements of s.43G and 43H and yet
fail to establish a reasonable belief that the disclosure was made in the public
interest.
The same can be said of a disclosure to a prescribed regulator. In that instance
(as for wider disclosures) a worker must hold a reasonable belief that the
disclosure and any allegation contained within it is substantially true. Again, it
may be difficult to conceive of a case where, despite satisfying that requirement
and holding a reasonable belief that the disclosure involves the public interest, a
worker’s claim would fail on the basis that in all the circumstances he or she did
not reasonably believe that making the disclosure to a regulator was in the
public interest.
That then only leaves first level disclosures. The policy of the legislation is
very much to encourage the making of such disclosures as an early warning
signal. Further, in relation to such disclosures it is rather less likely that there
will be strong countervailing public considerations which make it unreasonable
to believe that making the disclosure is in the public interest despite a
reasonable belief that it involves the public interest.
7 Nevertheless it is possible to conceive of situations where it will be argued in
relation to first level disclosures that, even if a worker reasonably believed
disclosures involved the public interest, it could not reasonably have been
believed that disclosure was in the public interest. Suppose, having initially
raised the disclosure, the worker persists in repeating the same disclosure over
and again, notwithstanding that it is known that the issues raised are already
under investigation. Repeated disclosures can still be qualifying disclosures
because of s43L which provides that a reference to the disclosure of information
shall have effect, in relation to any case where the person receiving the
information is already aware of it, as a reference to bringing the information to
his attention (though see the suggested limits on this in Cavendish Munro
Professional Risk Management Ltd v Geduld [2010] ICR 325 (EAT), discussed
at [3.15] of the Main Work and below). Suppose also that knowing that the
matter is under investigation at an appropriate level of management, the
employee insists on escalating it to Board level, cutting across reporting lines.
That can still be a qualifying disclosure “to the employer” even though “the
employer” already knows of it through the lower level of management. Can it
then be said that the continued insistence on disclosing the same matters, and
cutting across lines of investigation before an investigation has been concluded,
does not serve and could not reasonably be believed to serve any public
interest? There might be an argument that it will be detrimental to the efficient
administration of the company or public body that its Board is distracted by a
disclosure which could and should be raised at a lower level- at least unless and
until the worker has a reasonable basis for concluding that he or she is not being
taken seriously- or that management is engaged in a cover up or that the serious
nature of the information or the urgency of any threat explains the needs for
escalation.
The issues liable to arise may be illustrated by the decision of the EAT in Ezsias
v North Glamorgan NHS Trust [2011] IRLR 550. Mr Ezsias was a surgeon who
held concerns as to the clinical competence of colleagues. His complaints were
described by an internal inquiry panel as ‘excessively frequent, unacceptably
detailed, and unrelenting to an extreme degree’. In turn complaints were made
against him by colleagues who were the subject of his complaints. Ultimately he
was suspended and then dismissed on the basis of an irretrievable breakdown of
relationships with his colleagues. He contended that his complaints amounted to
protected disclosures, and that his dismissal was automatically unfair. In his
skeleton argument he claimed that there were 75 topics that he complained
about. The employment tribunal concluded that it did not need to deal with each
of these matters because the complaints were part of Mr Ezsias’ ‘campaign’
against certain colleagues and that the real reason why he made the complaints
was to further that campaign, and the disclosures were therefore not in good
faith.1 That reasoning was specifically approved by the EAT (at paras 24, 37).
Whilst there were other grounds on which the claim failed, without further
explanation this begs the question as to what the purposes of the campaign
1
See the EAT’s judgment at para 24.
8 were. To assert that a campaign was being pursued does not without further
explanation address whether it is a campaign to have the relevant failures
prevented or dealt with, or whether there is some other ulterior objective of the
‘campaign’. But the question now arises as to whether in the absence of good
faith as a barrier, a tribunal could say that there comes a point, in the
unrelenting campaign where it could no longer be seen as furthering any public
interest and instead amounted to a campaign of harassment.
That said, allegations may well be repeated or escalated by a worker if not
satisfied that they have been resolved. But it does not follow that such
disclosures could be regarded as not made in the public interest even though
reasonably believed to involve disclosures of information which tends to show a
relevant failure, and to involve matters of public interest. Indeed perseverance
and a determination to be heard and heeded may well be the hallmark of a
worker who is genuinely concerned as to matters which are the subject of the
disclosure. Indeed experience indicates that all too often it is precisely that
determination and resilience which is required before the disclosure is heeded, if
it is heeded at all.
4.
One potential focus for dispute is as to the circumstances in which a private
contractual dispute might give rise to public interest issues. In resisting an
amendment which would have confined the exception to cases involving breach
of private contractual rights, the Government noted that not all such cases
would be excluded. An example may be the case of an employee who holds a
regulatory or compliance function, and raises a complaint as to interference with
her performance of her role. That might in turn reasonably be believed to raise
a wider public interest issue as to the consequences of regulatory failings.
Another variable may be where the party in breach is a public body alleged to
be abusing power. Or more broadly it might be argued that there are broader
public interest issues engaged where the worker reasonably considers that what
at first blush is a private grievance in fact should be seen more broadly as
exposing wrongdoing of an employer who tends to avoid their employment
obligations. In each case it would be for the tribunal first to assess whether that
view was genuinely held at the time of the disclosure and whether the view that
the disclosure was made in the public interest was one that the worker could
reasonably hold.
5.
Equally, albeit less likely, the issue may also arise in relation to relevant failures
other than past, present or further breach of a legal obligation. One area of
controversy is a case where, in the context of an essentially private grievance, a
worker contends that she is being caused stress at work. That might be
sufficient to found a reasonable belief that health and safety is being endangered
(as it was in Fincham v HM Prison Service EAT/0925/01 and EAT/0991/01, 19
December 2002). But given the legislative aim of excluding essentially private
complaints, there may be a significant issue as to whether it was reasonably
believed that the disclosure was made in the public interest.
Whilst the new public interest test raises some quite different issues from the previous
good faith test, there is liable to be some evidential overlap in the matters which are
raised as bearing on whether the new requirement is satisfied.
9 One possibility is that the ulterior motive may be seen as clouding judgment which a
tribunal may take into account in relation to whether belief was objectively
reasonable. That was an approach adopted in relation to the pre-existing reasonable
belief test in Easwaran v St George’s University of London EAT/0167/10, 28 July
2010. One issue was whether Mr Easwaran held a reasonable belief that the
temperature in a cadaver room was liable to cause pneumonia. He was involved in an
angry altercation as to this, and Underhill J commented that: “it is clear that the
Tribunal saw this as a case where his anger … led him into taking an extreme and
unjustifiable position about the risk of pneumonia.” (para 23)
A further possibility is that a tribunal may conclude that the worker was so consumed
by the personal campaign or antagonism, that no consideration was given to any
wider public interest issues. The fact of having used an overtly public interest route,
such as the whistleblowing procedure, may be important to counter such a
submission. It does not though follow that use of a different route such as a grievance
process is inconsistent with having the requisite reasonable belief.
There are other instances where factors relied upon to evidence lack of good faith, and
indeed genuine belief in the wrongdoing, may also be relied upon in the alternative as
showing lack of genuine or reasonable belief that disclosure was in the public interest.
That is particularly so if it is relevant to consider not only whether the disclosure
involves public interest issues, but whether in all the circumstances disclosure was in
the public interest. An illustration is provided by the decision in Phipps v Bradford
Hospitals NHS Trust EAT/531/02, 30 April 2003. The claimant wrote a letter to the
medical director raising concerns as to treatment of patients with breast cancer. It was
held that the disclosure was not in good faith. The tribunal drew an inference that the
claimant had sent the letter to put a marker down that his position was not to be
lightly challenged by the medical director. It took into account that (a) the issue had
already been the subject of a report and discussion within the Respondent and (b) a
failure by the claimant to set out sufficient information in the letter or subsequently to
enable the concerns to be investigated. Under the new regime the same matters
would no doubt be relied upon to contend that there was no reasonable belief that the
disclosure was made in the public interest. The argument could proceed by
questioning how it could reasonably have been believed that the disclosure was in the
public interest where the matter had already been subject of a report and if the
claimant was not going to provide sufficient information to enable the matter to be
further investigated.
The judgment of the EAT in Fincham v HM Prison Service (EAT/0925/01 and
EAT/0991/01, 19 December 2002) may be thought to indicate that the worker has to
actually identify, albeit “not in strict legal language”, the breach of legal obligation
which he or she has in mind when disclosing information. As suggested in the main
text this was not easy to reconcile with later authority, in particular what Elias P
himself said in Bolton [2006] IRLR 500 at para 41.
In Western Union Payment
Services UK Limited v Anastasiou UKEAT/0135/13/LA the EAT accepted that what
mattered was the context. Given all the circumstances would the employer have
appreciated at least the general nature of the relevant failure. If that was the case then
there was no need for the worker to spell it out. Western Union was concerned with
10 information given by the employee when he was being asked questions on behalf of
the employer as part of an investigation as to whether statements made by the
employer to the stockmarket as to the likely number of branches to be opened within
the next year should have been made. Mr Anastasiou expressed the view that they
should not have been made. In dismissing Western Union’s argument that it was
necessary for Mr Anastasiou to identify the legal obligations that were engaged and
had or might have been broken by the making of the statements to the stock market
the EAT accepted the submission for Anastasiou that the context had to be
considered. The information disclosed and circumstances of the disclosure by
Fincham were not such as to make it reasonably obvious what relevant failure she had
in mind. That was not the case with Mr Anastasiou or Mr Evans in the Bolton case. In
both of those cases the context made the relevant legal obligation (sufficiently)
apparent.
Guidance to Tribunal’s as to the proper approach to protected disclosure cases
See Blackbay Ventures Limited T/A Chemistree v Ghahir Appeal
UKEAT/0449/12/JOJUKEAT/0450/12/JOJ noted below under Chapter 7.
Nos.
3.05 The requirement that the disclosure contain “information”
Four recent decisions clarify and arguably limit the impact of the Cavendish and
Goode decisions. In Millbank Financial Services Ltd v Crawford [2013] UKEAT
0290_13_2009 [2014] IRLR 18 C was a chartered accountant employed by MFS as
financial director designate. Her employment was expressed to be subject to a
probationary period of six months. During this probationary period she was entitled to
one month's notice; after the probationary period she was entitled to three months'
notice during the following year. Thereafter, she was entitled to six months' notice.
During her probation and at a probation review meeting C was told that her
probationary period was being extended and that MFS had concerns about some
aspect of her performance. There was no suggestion at that meeting that she would be
dismissed. On 15 October, in preparation for a further meeting to be held the
following day, C sent a letter by to senior management of MFS. The letter expressed
C’s deep disappointment at the way in which the probation review was carried out. It
set out some of the background history and a critique of the way that C said she had
been treated during her period of employment. In her claim form C argued that the
contents of the letter contained protected disclosures. In its response, MFS accepted
that it dismissed her because on receiving her letter dated 15 October it became
concerned about what it described as her 'combative attitude and inability to accept
constructive criticism'. It argued, however, that the letter contained no 'information'
for the purposes of s.43B; her allegations, therefore, did not amount to a protected
disclosure; and the claim should be struck out. A pre-hearing review was listed to
determine this question. C argued that her letter contained information which, in her
reasonable belief, tended to show failure by MFS to comply with legal obligations in
the following respects: breach of the implied term of trust and confidence; breach of
director's statutory duties under the Companies Act 2006; and breach of director's
duties under the FSA Code of Conduct. MFS appealed the ET’s refusal to strike out
the claim. In dismissing the appeal the EAT distinguished Cavendish. The distinction
drawn in Cavendish was between mere allegation or assertion or statement of position
on the one hand and the conveying of facts on the other. It is, however, clear from
11 Cavendish that the facts conveyed might relate to an omission ('the wards have not
been cleaned for the last two weeks') just as they may relate to a positive action
('sharps were left lying around'). C’s letter had stated that there had been no feedback
during the probationary period; no consultation with the person recruited to carry out
the HR function; no consultation with the director, just a single meeting at the end of
the probation period with no plan of action and no idea how long the probation period
would last. The letter backed up the lack of communication with facts about a failure
to ask her to prepare a preliminary report on a matter within her remit and by giving
details of the only email which was ever sent to her about changes to her role. It went
far beyond simply making an allegation or stating a position. It set out the factual
basis of C’s complaint in considerable detail. Although the letter asserted omissions,
taking for granted the known fact that MFS has extended her probationary period
when it had no contractual right to do so it conveyed facts for the purposes of the
whistleblowing provisions in the sense that it conveyed facts about what had not been
done.
Norbrook Laboratories (GB) Limited v Shaw [2014] UKEAT 0150 132401 was an
appeal from a decision of the ET on a PHR that two emails sent by S on 30
November and 6 December 2010 taken together were capable of amounting to
qualifying disclosures. S was Norbrook’s Sales and Business Communications
Manager. His duties included managing a team of Territory Managers who operated
throughout the United Kingdom. The Territory Managers drove to customers and
potential customers to obtain sales. The winter of 2010 was particularly severe and
the roads were covered with snow. The Territory Managers were having difficulty
getting to their appointments and they raised this with S as their Manager, they were
concerned that inability to get to appointments might affect their pay. S in turn sent
three relevant emails to Norbrook. In the first he asked for “some advice on what my
Territory Managers should do in terms of driving in the snow. Is there a company
policy and has a risk assessment been done." The ET was clear that this could not be a
disclosure of information, it was simply an enquiry. The reply was rather vague so in
a second email S said he
“was hoping for some formal guidance from the company. The team are
under a lot of pressure to keep out on the roads at the moment and it is
dangerous. Do I log this as the formal guidance?".
In a third email S said he was:
“…only after a simply [sic] policy statement to increase transparency and help
build morale and goodwill within the team. As their manager I also have a
duty to care for their health and safety. Having spent most of Monday and
Friday driving through snow I know how dangerous it can be. In addition the
time spent battling through the snow is unproductive; they can gain more sales
by phoning customers. If they are not going to be paid then I have to put in
contingencies for diverting calls to those team members still on the road. In
the absence of any formal guidance I take full responsibility for the directions
given to my team."
The EJ gave a self direction that for there to be a qualifying protected disclosure there
had to be a disclosure of information. Having considered Cavendish the EJ held that,
12 looking at the email correspondence as a whole, a number of statements were being
made by S as well as queries raised by him. S was informing his employer that the
road conditions were so dangerous that the health and safety of his team was being
placed at risk. Even though such facts may have been obvious in any event to the
employer that did not prevent S in providing that information in the course of the emails making a disclosure which was capable of amounting to a qualifying disclosure
within Section 43B(1)(d).
On appeal to the EAT, Norbrook contended that this was perverse and/or erroneous
and that no underlying wrong or failure had been identified. Reliance was placed on
Goode in support of a submission that S’s state of mind about weather conditions was
not the foundation for a reasonable belief that there was any relevant failure as
regards the health and safety of any specific member of the team. As in Goode the
communications were "…only 'information' in the sense of being a statement of his
state of mind…" and as in Cavendish simply voicing a concern, raising an issue or
setting out an objection was not the same as disclosing information." Yet further there
was nothing in the language of ERA section 43B which permitted a "qualifying
disclosure" to consist of several separate disclosures over different days and
communicated to different individuals.
The EAT dismissed the appeal. The disclosure must be of information not an
allegation (Cavendish paragraph 24). Nor can it be an expression of opinion or a state
of mind (Goode paragraph 36) – though as to this see Western Union (below).
Further, the information had to be of facts which in the reasonable belief of the
worker making the disclosure tended to show (in this case) that the health and safety
of any individual had been, was being or was likely to be endangered. An earlier
communication could be read together with a later one as "embedded" in it rendering
the later communication a protected disclosure even if taken separately they would
not fall within section 43B(1)(d) (Goode paragraph 37). Accordingly two
communications could taken together, amount to a protected disclosure . Whether
they did was a question of fact. The EJ did not err in concluding that in the emails
taken together S was communicating information. He was drawing attention to the
danger posed to Territory Managers of driving in snowy conditions. This was not just
as an expression of an opinion or making an allegation. Information was being
provided.
In Greenly v Future Network Solutions Limited [2013] UKEAT 0359_13_1912 the
EAT held that it was not appropriate to strike out a case at a PHR because although
the pleaded case tended to suggest that no “information” had been disclosed it was
possible, when evidence was heard by an ET, that it would emerge that information
had been disclosed or was apparent from the context. In that case too the EAT
confirmed that two communications taken together could amount to a protected
disclosure where neither, standing on its own, would have satisfied the requirements
of the section.
In Western Union (see above) the EAT also considered a submission on behalf of the
employer that all that Mr Anastasiou had done was disclose his opinion that the
projections as to branch openings should not have been given to the stock market by
the employer. The EAT rejected this argument. They said that they would follow and
apply the approach adopted by the EAT in Cavendish, Goode and Smith: that s.43B
13 ERA requires the disclosure to be one “of information”, not merely the making of an
allegation or statement of position but that
“the distinction can be a fine one to draw and one can envisage circumstances
in which the statement of a position could involve the disclosure of
information, and vice versa. The assessment as to whether there has been a
disclosure of information in a particular case will always be fact-sensitive.”
The EAT observed that Mr Anastasiou was providing responses to an investigation.
That investigation was concerned with whether the information given to the stock
market was correct or whether it had been misleading. To some extent, Mr
Anastasiou was being asked to provide his opinion but not simply as to whether he
considered the statements in the conference calls should have been made but as to the
actual sales position as he understood it. Having made its findings as to what Mr
Anastasiou had said in the investigation, the ET concluded that he had provided
information – obviously derived from his experience and knowledge of what was
happening - as to the likelihood of meeting the sales target and as to the
appropriateness of including particular the accounts. The EAT would uphold that
finding.
The approach in Western Union provides strong support for the approach suggested in
the Main Work (at paras 3.06 to 3.11). There is no bright line divide between
statements of opinion and statements of fact, such that only the latter be sufficient for
a qualifying disclosure. A statement of opinion will at least disclose the fact that a
person holds that opinion. It is a separate question whether that is information which
could reasonably be believed to tend to show a relevant failure. It is important to
keep those two questions distinct (as emphasised in Easwaran). Context is all
important. In Goode the mere expression of a state of mind (the statement that the
worker was “disgusted”) could not reasonably have been believed to tend to show a
relevant failure. That will not necessarily always be the case. At the very early stage
when a person raises the alarm, there may be the minimum of detail provided because
the worker reasonably expects to be given the opportunity to expand on the basis for
the concerns. In context the simple communication by a worker that, for example,
s/he has discovered a suspected fraud, whilst only disclosing a state of mind or
opinion, might in context tend to show a relevant failure. The argument would be
stronger if that person was in a position where their opinion was expected by its
nature to carry weight eg if the warning is given by an employee entrusted with an
internal auditing responsibility. It would be unsatisfactory if, before the employee has
been offered the chance to expand on the concerns, it was open to the employer to
dismiss in response to the warning, and then to say that no protected disclosure has
yet been made. Conversely if at a stage when the employee has had the opportunity
to expand on concerns there is nothing added to substantiate a mere state of mind or
expression of opinion, it may well be that the mere fact that the worker holds a
particular opinion would be wholly insufficient to support any contention that the
worker reasonably believed that it tended to show a relevant failure.
14 Chapter 4
Removal of the good faith requirement
In each of those sections where it appears, that is to say 43C, 43E, 43F, 43G and 43H,
the requirement that a disclosure must be made “in good faith” to be protected was
deleted by section 18 of ERRA in relation to disclosures made on or after 25th June
2013. As such, subject to the issue canvassed above as to the meaning of the new
public interest test, a predominant ulterior motive will generally no longer mean that
the claim fails at the liability stage. That is subject to the qualification that motive
still remains a relevant consideration for wider disclosures within sections 43G and
43H. These exclude disclosures made “for the purposes of personal gain”. At least at
first instance this has been construed as extending beyond financial gain, so as to
include the motive of securing an employment advantage. See the discussion of
Kajencki at [5.25] of the Main Work.
Further, the Tribunal has been given a new power to reduce the compensation payable
in respect of detriment (s.49(6A) ERA) and to reduce a compensatory award for
unfair dismissal (s.123(6A) ERA), by up to 25% where the tribunal is satisfied that
the disclosure was not made in good faith. There would seem to be no reason why the
law as outlined in chapter 4 will not continue to apply for this purpose.
Chapter 6
6.05 See also Suhail v Herts Urgent Care UKEAT/0416/11/RN, 14 November
2012, where the EAT upheld a tribunal’s finding that the claimant, who worked as an
out of hours GP for the respondent was not a “worker”. Crucially in that case the GP
did not contract directly with the Primary Care Trust (now the NHS Commissioning
Board), so the extended meaning of worker in s.43K(ba) (as amended by ERRA)
would not assist. Contrast Hospital Medical Group Limited v Westwood [2013] ICR
415 (CA), where the doctor was integrated into the employer organisation and
properly regarded as a worker, and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health
Board v Ferguson UKEAT/0044/13/LA, 24 April 2013 where it was accepted that a
GP was a worker employed by a Health Board.
6.07 – 6.23
Section 20 of ERRA made amendments to section 43K with effect from 25th June
2013 (ERRA section 103 (2));
(ba) works or worked as a person performing services under a contract
entered into by him with a Primary Care Trust under section 83(2), 84, 92,
100, 107, 115(4), 117 or 134 of, or Schedule 12 to section 84 or 100 of the
National Health Service Act 2006 or with a Local Health Board under section
41(2)(b), 42, 50, 57, 64 or 92 of, or Schedule 7 to section 42 or 57 of the
National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, or with a Primary Care Trust
under section 117 of that Act
15 (bb) works or worked as a person providing services under a contract
entered into by him with a Health Board under section 17J or 17Q of the
National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978,
(c)
works or worked as a person providing general medical services,
general dental services, general ophthalmic services or pharmaceutical
services works or worked as a person providing services in accordance with
arrangements made—
(i) by a Primary Care Trust under section 126 of the National Health
Service Act 2006 or Local Health Board under section 71 or 80 of the
National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, or
(ii) by a Health Board under section 2C, 17AA, 17C, 25, 26 or 27 of the
National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, or
(ca) works or worked as a person performing services under a contract
entered into by him with a Health Board under section 17Q of the National
Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978,
(d) is or was provided with work experience provided pursuant to a training
course or programme or with training for employment (or with both)
otherwise than—
(i)
under a contract of employment, or
(ii) by an educational establishment on a course run by that establishment;
and any reference to a worker's contract, to employment or to a worker being
'employed' shall be construed accordingly.
(2)
For the purposes of this Part 'employer' includes—
(a) in relation to a worker falling within paragraph (a) of subsection (1),
the person who substantially determines or determined the terms on which he
is or was engaged,
(aa) in relation to a worker falling within paragraph (ba) of that subsection,
the Primary Care Trust or Local Health Board referred to in that paragraph.
(ab) in relation to a worker falling within paragraph (bb) of that subsection,
the Health Board referred to in that paragraph,
(b) in relation to a worker falling within paragraph (c) of that subsection,
the authority or board referred to in that paragraph, and
(ba) in relation to a worker falling within paragraph (ca) of that subsection,
the Health Board referred to in that paragraph, and
(c) in relation to a worker falling within paragraph (d) of that subsection,
the person providing the work experience or training.
16 (3)
In this section 'educational establishment' includes any university,
college, school or other educational establishment.
Section 20 also added a new subsection 4 to section 43K which gives the Secretary of
State new powers to make amendments to that section as to what individuals count as
“workers” for the purposes of Part IVA. An order under subsection (4) may not make
an amendment that has the effect of removing a category of individual unless the
Secretary of State is satisfied that there are no longer any individuals in that category.
Any such amendment will be made following the results of the Government’s call for
evidence referred to above.
Chapter 6
6.37 See now Bates van Winklehof v Clyde & Co LLP [2012] EWCA Civ 1207
[2012] IRLR 992. BvW was a member of the respondent LLP. The Court of Appeal
held that under s.4(4) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 if Clyde & Co
had not been registered as an LLP then Winklehof would have been a partner in an
1890 Act partnership. She was therefore not a “worker” within the meaning of
s.230(b) of ERA and therefore could not pursue a whistleblowing claim. The issue is
currently on appeal to the Supreme Court, with Public Concern at Work intervening.
6.44 – 6.48 See now Ravat v Halliburton Manufacturing and Services Ltd [2012]
UKSC 1, [2012] IRLR 315 Rogers v Deputy Commander (as trustee of the Garrison
Amenities Fund) and another UKEAT/0455/12/ZT, 1 February 2013 and Dhunna v
Creditsights Ltd UKEAT/0246/12/LA, 18 December 2012.
Chapter 7
7.27A
In Engel v The Joint Committee for Parking & Traffic Regulation Outside London
(P.A.T.R.O.L) UKEAT 0520/12/LA, 17 May 2013, the EAT held that a decision by
the Chief Adjudicator of the Traffic Parking Tribunal not to allocate cases to a fee
paid Parking Adjudicator could not amount to a detriment for the purpose s47B of the
Employment Rights Act 1996 because it was made by her in the execution of judicial
functions in her capacity as a judicial office holder. Accordingly, it was covered by
judicial immunity.
7.50 “On the ground that”
See Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust v Geoghegan [2014]
UKEAT 0048_13_2901 which was an appeal against findings that the respondent
subjected the claimant to detriment for making protected disclosures. The appeal was
allowed. The detriments had been identified but the ET’s reasoning did not
sufficiently explain how those detriments were related to the protected disclosures.
17 See also on this point Western Union Payment Services UK Limited v Anastasiou
[2014] UKEAT/0135/13/LA where the EAT remitted the case to the ET.
In Blackbay Ventures Limited T/A Chemistree v Ghahir Appeal Nos.
UKEAT/0449/12/JOJUKEAT/0450/12/JOJ the EAT issued guidance as to how ETs
should approach a claim of victimisation for making protected disclosures. The
guidance is, for the most part, equally applicable to dismissal claims.
–
Each disclosure2 should be separately identified by reference to date
and content.
–
Each alleged failure or likely failure to comply with a legal obligation,
or matter giving rise to the health and safety of an individual having
been or likely to be endangered as the case may be should be
separately identified.
–
–
The basis upon which each disclosure is said to be protected and
qualifying should be addressed.
–
If a breach of a legal obligation is asserted, the source of the obligation
should be identified and capable of verification by reference for
example to statute or regulation.
–
It is not sufficient …to simply lump together a number of complaints,
some of which may be culpable, but others of which may simply have
been references to a checklist of legal requirements or do not amount
to disclosure of information tending to show breaches of legal
obligations.
–
It is …proper for an Employment Tribunal to have regard to the
cumulative effect of a number of complaints providing always they
have been identified as protected disclosures.
–
The ET should then determine
• whether or not the Claimant had the reasonable belief
• whether each disclosure was made in good faith/whether it was
made in the public interest3
–
Where it is alleged that the Claimant has suffered a detriment, short of
dismissal it is necessary to identify the detriment in question and where
relevant the date of the act or deliberate failure to act relied upon by
the Claimant.
2
Applying Greenly v Future Network Solutions Limited [2013] UKEAT 0359_13_1912 a disclosure
may be made from more than one communication.
3
This ought, we suggest, to have been a reference to the need to be satisfied that the worker reasonably
believed that it was in the public interest that the disclosure be made.
18 –
This is particularly important in the case of deliberate failures to act
because unless the date of a deliberate failure to act can be ascertained
by direct evidence the failure of the Respondent to act is deemed to
take place when the period expired within which he might reasonably
have been expected to do the failed act.
7.51-7.66 Knowledge of the protected disclosure: an important caveat
The focus on the mental processes of the employer discussed in these paragraphs
needs to be understood with one important qualification. It is not always necessary to
establish that the person who actually inflicted the detriment was aware of the
protected disclosure. In Western Union Payment Services UK Limited v Anastasiou
[2014] UKEAT/0135/13/LA there was no evidence that those employees who had
actually subjected the worker to detriment had been aware of the making of the
protected disclosure. The worker’s case was that they had been instructed to subject
him to detriment(s). The EAT said (at paragraph 74) that they could see that –
hypothetically - there might be cases where there was an organisational culture or
chain of command such that the final actor might not have personal knowledge of the
protected disclosure but where it nevertheless still materially influenced the treatment
of the complainant worker. However in such cases it would still be necessary for the
ET to explain how it had arrived at the conclusion that this is what had happened and
the EAT concluded that that explanation had not been given in that case: accordingly
the case was remitted.
Section E. Subjection by the employer
The meaning of “subjecting” in this context was considered by the EAT in Abertawe
Bro Morgannwg University Health Board v Ferguson [2013] UKEAT/0044/13/LA,
24 April 2013, in the context of a GP’s claim against a Health Board. Various
allegations were made of deliberate failures to act by investigating the claimant’s
concerns, treating his identity with due confidentiality and protecting him from
reprisals from the colleagues in the GP’s practice. It was also alleged that the Health
Board had subjected the GP to detriments by reason of protected disclosures in
forcing her to take voluntary leave as an alternative to suspension and forcing her to
be subjected to an investigation. The EAT upheld the tribunal’s refusal to strike out
the claim. It rejected the Health Board’s contention that the phrase “subjected to”
entails an element of wilfulness. That concept was unnecessary given the needs for
the act or failure to act to be by reason of a protected disclosure. Instead the phrase
“subjected to” merely connotes an element of causation. The phrase is used instead of
the phrase “caused by” so as to encompass deliberate failures to act. So far as
concerns deliberate failures to act, there is no necessary requirement that there must
be a duty to act. It is sufficient if there is a discretion to do so. It is then sufficient if
it is established that the respondent deliberately decided not to act by reason of the
protected disclosure.
19 Vicarious and co-worker liability
ERRA made sweeping changes to section 47B in relation to a claim based on
qualifying disclosures made on or after 25th June 20134. It introduced “co-worker”
and agent liability for any detriment done to a worker by another worker of the
worker’s employer and, reversing the effect of the Court of Appeal’s decision in
Fecitt (referred to in paragraph 7.37 of the main work), made that employer liable for
co worker detriment subject to a reasonable steps defence. As amended s.47B
provides by new subsections 1A to 1E that a worker (“W”) has the right not to be
subjected to any detriment by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, done—
(a) by another worker of W's employer in the course of that other worker's
employment, or
(b)
by an agent of W's employer with the employer's authority,
on the ground that W has made a protected disclosure. Where a worker is subjected to
such detriment then that is treated as also done by the worker's employer. For the
purpose of the subsection it is immaterial whether the thing is done with the
knowledge or approval of the worker's employer, however in proceedings against the
claimant worker’s employer based on victimisation by a co-worker (but not an agent),
it is a defence for the employer to show that the employer took all reasonable steps to
prevent the co worker from doing the thing complained of or from doing anything of
that description. A worker or agent of the employer is not liable for doing something
that subjects the claimant to detriment if the worker or agent does that thing in
reliance on a statement by the employer that doing it does not contravene the Act, and
it is reasonable for the worker or agent to rely on the statement. However that defence
does not prevent the employer from being liable to the claimant worker.
The forms of liability and defences follow the model used in the Equality Act 2010
and its predecessor statutes and the case law in relation to those provisions will fall to
be considered and applied.
“course of that other worker’s employment…”
As to “course of that other worker’s employment” see Jones v Tower Boot Co Ltd
[1997] IRLR 168, [1997] ICR 254, CA taking a purposive approach: tribunals are
free, and are indeed bound, to interpret the ordinary, and readily understandable,
words 'in the course of employment' in the sense in which every lay-man would
understand them. The test was wider than the doctrine of vicarious liability as applied
by the common law of tort at that time, but the common law has itself developed
since. The test now adopted at common law is whether the tort of the employee is so
closely connected with his employment that it would be fair and just to hold the
employer vicariously liable (Lister v Hesley Hall Ltd [2001] UKHL 22, [2002] 1 AC
215 and Dubai Aluminium Co Ltd v Salaam [2002] UKHL 48, [2003] 2 A.C. 366).
For recent case law on the meaning of “course of employment” in that context see
Weddall v. Barchester Healthcare; Wallbank v. Wallbank Fox Designs [2012] EWCA
Civ 25 (CA) [2012] IRLR 307.
4
see Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (Commencement No 1, Transitional Provisions and
Savings) Order 2013, SI 2013/14550.
20 For the approach to be taken in relation to behaviour that takes place outside the work
environment see Chief Constable of the Lincolnshire Police v Stubbs [1999] IRLR 81,
[1999] ICR 547, EAT and Sidhu v Aerospace Composite Technology Ltd [2000]
IRLR 602, [2001] ICR 167, CA.
“….an agent of W's employer with the employer's authority..”
The leading case is Lana v Positive Action Training in Housing (London) Limited
[2001] IRLR 501 considering the parallel provision in s.41(2) of the Sex
Discrimination Act 1975: the authority referred to must be the authority to do an act
which is capable of being done in a discriminatory manner just as it is capable of
being done in a lawful manner. See also Bungay v Saini UKEAT/0331/10, 27
September 2011, [2011] EqLR 1130, applying the common law rules of agency
principles explained in Bowstead and Reynolds on Agency (18th edition-1-001) and
approved in Yearwood v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2004] ICR 1660,
36. The test of authority is whether when doing a discriminatory act the discriminator
was exercising authority conferred by the principal and not whether the principal had
in fact authorised the putative agent to discriminate.
“…took all reasonable steps to prevent…”
On the face of the statute the reasonable steps defence is available only in relation to
co workers and not agents (but see Victor-Davis v London Borough of Hackney
UKEAT/1269/01 for a discussion of an alternative approach). The reasonable steps
may be taken generally or with specific reference to the act complained of. The
burden will be on the employer to show that reasonable steps were taken. The proper
approach is to focus on what steps were actually taken prior to the act complained of
and whether it would it have been reasonable to take further steps: see Canniffe v East
Riding of Yorkshire Council [2000] IRLR 555): and Al-Azzawi v Haringey London
Borough Council (Haringey Design Partnership Directorate of Technical and
Environmental Services) UKEAT/158/00, 3 December 2001. By way of examples see
Croft v Royal Mail Group plc [2003] EWCA Civ 1045, [2003] ICR 1425 and
Caspersz v Ministry of Defence UKEAT/0599/05/LA, 3 February 2006. The question
is one of fact: Enterprise Glass Co Ltd v Miles [1990] ICR 787, EAT, Balgobin v
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council [1987] ICR 829, EAT.
The imposition of vicarious liability accentuates the desirability of an effective and
effectively monitored whistleblowing policy which will assist the employer in
showing that reasonable steps were taken to prevent victimisation of a whistleblower
by co workers.
7.79
See also Mr A Blitz v Vectone Group Holdings Ltd UKEAT/0253/10/DM, 29
November 2011, where the EAT upheld the distinction drawn by the Employment
Tribunal between the disclosure and the manner in which it was conveyed.
7.125
In relation to footnote 54 see Dolby v Sheffield City Council [2012] EWCA Civ 1474
(15 November 2012).
21 7.87 to 7.90
The decision in Martin v Devonshires was considered by the EAT in Woodhouse v
West North West Homes Leeds Ltd UKEAT/0007/12/SM, 5 June 2013, which was
another discrimination case. The EAT emphasised the exceptional circumstances in
Martin v Devonshires. As the EAT noted in Woodhouse at [102]:
“ Martin cannot be regarded as some sort of template into which the facts of
cases of alleged victimisation can be fitted. There are no doubt exceptional
cases where protected acts have not caused the dismissal or whatever other
detriment is at issue. Martin is an example of such an exceptional case. But we
emphasise the word exceptional; very few cases will have grievances based on
paranoid delusions about events that never happened. It seems to us the
process of measuring cases against such a yardstick is a dangerous one. One
person's conviction that they have been discriminated against is very likely to
generate the polar opposite, i.e. that the complainant is irrational, in the person
or organisation complained about. Experience of this type of litigation teaches
that grievances multiply and so the fact that here are a series of them is not
unusual. It is a slippery slope towards neutering the concept of victimisation if
the irrationality and multiplicity of grievances can lead, as a matter of routine,
to the case being placed outside the scope of section 27 of the Equality Act.
…”
However the pendulum swung – emphatically- back the other way in Panayiotou v
Kernaghan [2014] UKEAT 0436_13_1604 – a whistleblowing case. P was a
policeman who was found to have been subjected to a series of detriments and was
ultimately dismissed from the force. The ET found that P made a number of protected
disclosures. He contended that the fact that he had made those protected disclosures
influenced the employer in acting as it did and was the reason, or the principal reason,
for his dismissal. The tribunal concluded that the employer acted as it did because of
P’s long term absence on sickness grounds together with the manner in which P had
pursued his complaints. He would not accept any answer save that which he sought
and, if he was not satisfied with the action taken following a complaint, he would
pursue the matter to ensure that his view prevailed. As a result, the force was having
to devote a great deal of management time to responding to P’s correspondence and
complaints and he had become “completely unmanageable”.
On P’s behalf it was argued before the EAT that it was not possible to separate out the
fact of making a protected disclosure from the frustration of the employer at having to
deal with the disclosures or the campaign to right the wrongs that Mr Panayiotou
perceived had not been corrected. The EAT disagreed. Section 47B ERA does not
prohibit the drawing of a distinction between the making of protected disclosures and
the manner or way in which an employee goes about the process of dealing with
protected disclosures. That accorded with Bolton School v Evans [2007] ICR 641.
Whilst it will be permissible to separate out factors or consequences following from
the making of a protected disclosure from the making of the protected disclosure
itself, the employment tribunal will, however, need to ensure that the factors relied
upon are genuinely separable from the fact of making the protected disclosure and are
in fact the reasons why the employer acted as it did. That was the case here. The EAT
22 disagreed with the suggestion in Woodhouse that there was an additional requirement
that the case be exceptional for the principle of separability to apply. On the findings
of the ET the reason why the force acted as it did was not in any sense whatsoever for
an unlawful reason: rather it was the combination of his long term absence and the
way in which he pursued his views.
7.122
See Flynn v Warrior Square Recoveries Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 68, [2014] All ER (D)
48 (Feb) - the threat of a defamation action had disappeared by 30 November 2009. It
followed that, once the EAT had correctly identified the legal error on the part of the
tribunal in focusing on detriment rather than on act or deliberate failure to act in
relation to the issues of time, it had been inevitable that it would be driven to the
conclusion that the relevant acts or failures to act in the form of the threats and the
failure to withdraw them had ceased to exist long before June 2010.
Chapter 8
D. Constructive Dismissal
8.16- 8.17
An illustration of the points discussed in these paragraphs is the discrimination case of
Clements v Lloyds Banking Plc & Ors [2014] UKEAT 0474_13_3004. C, who was in
his 50s, occupied a senior role in Lloyds. His manager had performance concerns, and
thought it time for C to move on from his role. The ET found that the manager did
not tell C of this view in a proper manner (and thereby committed what was part of a
cumulative breach of the implied term of trust and confidence). At one stage of their
first conversation the manager said (twice) to C “You’re not 25 anymore”. The ET
found that this was discriminatory on the ground of age, even though not intended in
that way. After further events at work, C resigned. The ET held that he was entitled to
treat himself as constructively dismissed by reason of Lloyds’ breach of the trust and
confidence term by seeking to move him on from one role to another without
adopting any proper process to do so. Although it had held the specific words found
to have been used by the manager to be discriminatory in themselves, it also
considered that the use of those words was not a material part of the conduct which
amounted to the breach in response to which the claimant resigned. It was careful not
to say that the discriminatory words of 5th. January were actually part of the breach it
held repudiatory. Rather, what it said about 5th. January 2012 was that Mr.
Shawcross’s approach was not a proper way to go about telling the Claimant that
there were concerns about his performance serious enough to call into question
whether he should remain in his Business Continuity role. The Tribunal did not
separately identify the discriminatory act as part of that breach. Rather, the Tribunal
found the employer to be in repudiatory breach by adopting a course of conduct
which it found to be an approach seeking to move the Claimant out of his current role,
and to appoint someone else.
As Langstaff P put it (at paragraph 28) the Tribunal had found a repudiatory breach
but the issue was whether discrimination, as such, was a cause of the dismissal. The
real question for determination was whether the resignation was because of the
23 discrimination in any real causative sense. The conclusion that it was not was one of
fact: a robust approach has to be taken by courts and tribunals to determining whether
of not a particular act has caused or materially contributed to a given effect, for the
purposes of determining which of two parties should suffer a given loss – here, the
damage caused to the claimant by the discrimination for which he could claim
compensation. The Tribunal had considered whether the discrimination involved in
telling the claimant he was no longer 25 had played any material part in the breach in
response to which the claimant resigned. It did so by asking (appropriately) whether
it had “tainted” the dismissal. Its conclusion that it did not was one of fact which
would not be upset absent an error of approach/perversity.
8.24
See also Ross v Eddie Stobart Ltd UKEAT 0068/13/RN, 28 June 2013, citing
paragraph 8.24 and following the authorities there mentioned, upholding the principle
that an employee with insufficient qualifying service bears the burden of establishing
the alleged automatically unfair reason for dismissal.
Chapter 9
In relation to detriment claims, ERRA inserts a new s.49(6A) ERA as follows:
(6A)
(a)
Where—
the complaint is made under section 48(1A), and
(b) it appears to the tribunal that the protected disclosure was not made in good
faith,
the tribunal may, if it considers it just and equitable in all the circumstances to do so,
reduce any award it makes to the worker by no more than 25%.
Similarly in relation to unfair dismissal, ERRA amends section 123 of the
Employment Rights Act to add a new provision in relation to the compensatory award
as follows:(6A)
Where—
(a) the complaint is made under section 48(1A), and
(b) it appears to the tribunal that the protected disclosure was not made in good
faith,
the tribunal may, if it considers it just and equitable in all the circumstances to do so,
reduce any award it makes to the worker by no more than 25%.
9.23 – 9.27
Now see Kaltz Ltd v Mrs B Hamer UKEAT/0198/11/RN, 24 February 2012, where it
appears to have been agreed that a deduction could be made for contributory fault
where automatically unfair dismissal for making a protected disclosure was made out.
See also Audere Medical Services Ltd v Sanderson UKEAT 0409/12/RN, 29 May
2013 which also addresses this point and where the EAT noted that it could see no
24 reason in principle where there could not be a reduction for contributory fault in a
case of automatically unfair dismissal by reason of a protected disclosure.
In the light of the reforms introduced by ERRA, an issue is liable to arise as to the
relationship between a reduction for contributory fault and the ability to reduce the
compensatory award where an employee is found not to have acted in good faith in
making the disclosure. In particular, can a tribunal circumvent the limit of 25% on
the reduction for good faith by making a further reduction in relation to lack of good
faith under the heading of contributory fault? The argument against is that it would
be contrary to the statutory scheme. By placing a limit on the extent of the reduction
for not acting in good faith, a balance is struck between (a) not overcompensating
those who act for an ulterior motives and (b) seeking not to deter workers from raising
the alarm for fear that their motives will be attached. The counter-argument is that
there is no inconsistency in allowing a further reduction for contributory fault. A
reduction can be made under the heading of contributory fault only if the ulterior
motive was causatively relevant to the dismissal, whereas there is no such
requirement to make the reduction of up to 25% under the specific good faith
provision.
In any event, in most cases this issue can be evaded by drawing a distinction between
the ulterior motive, and the acts or failure to act from which good faith might be
inferred. Thus, commonly a lack of good faith is inferred from acts or failures to act
of the employee, e.g. in seeking to gain an employment advantage (Bachnak v
Emerging Markets Partnership (Europe) Limited EAT/0288/05, 27 January 2006) or
from refusal to cooperate with an internal investigation (Street v Derbyshire
Unemployed Workers’ Centre [2005] ICR 97 (CA)) or to set out sufficient
information to enable the allegation to be investigation (Phipps v Bradford Hospitals
NHS Trust EAT/531/02, 30 April 2003) or generally acting inconsistently with what
would be expected of someone acting in good faith (Muchesa v Central and Cecil
Housing Care Support EAT/0443/07, 22 August 2008). In each case there would be
acts or failures to act, distinct from the ulterior motive, which if causatively relevant
to the dismissal might be taken into account when assessing contributory fault, albeit
whilst taking care to avoid double-counting.
For a discussion (though not in a whistleblowing context) of the role of contributory
fault in constructive dismissal cases see Firth Accountants Ltd v Law
UKEAT/0460/13/SM,
Chapter 10
See now the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure)
Regulations 2013/1237.
10.46
See also Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board v Ferguson
UKEAT/0044/13/LA, 24 April 2013, in which the EAT stressed (at para 33) that the
circumstances in which it will be possible to strike out a fact-sensitive protected
disclosure claim are likely to be rare and that:
25 “In general it is better to proceed to determine a case on the evidence in light
of all the facts. At the conclusion of the evidence gathering it is likely to be
much clearer whether there is truly a point of law in issue or not.”
Para 15.43
As to the scope of the positive duty of disclosure of an employee who does not owe
relevant fiduciary duties, see now Ranson v Customer Systems Plc [2012] IRLR 769
(CA) and Imam-Sadeque v Bluebay Asset Management (Services) Limited [2013]
IRLR 344. The Court of Appeal emphasised that there is no general duty on
employees to report a fellow employee’s misconduct or a breach of contract. Such a
duty must arise of the terms of the employee’s contract of employment, the nature of
the employee’s role and responsibilities. More controversially it was also suggested
by Popplewell J in Imam-Sadeque that the nature of the threat and the circumstances
in which the employee becomes aware of it are also relevant. Popplewell J noted at
[133] that a senior manager who becomes aware of a competitive threat to an aspect
of the business for which he is responsible will normally come under such a duty,
whereas a junior employee with such responsibility would not.
In QBE Management Services (UK) Limited v Dymoke [2012] IRLR 458, HaddonCave J stated that the working assumption should be that directors and senior
employees ought to disclose (a) any action at all, if taken by others, that would lead to
competitive activity, and (b) any action of their own, as soon as the irrevocable
intention to compete is formed unless they resigned immediately. At least so far as
concerns employees who do not owe relevant fiduciary duties, that statement must
now be regarded as too broad in the light of the Court of Appeal’s decision in Ranson.
Instead it would be necessary to consider carefully the specific contractual obligations
of the employee, including those that can properly be implied in the light of the
employee’s role and responsibilities, in order to ascertain whether by way of
divergence from the general rule, a duty of disclosure arises. Equally however the
approach in Ranson indicates that the earlier first instance decision of Lonmar Global
Risks Limited v West [2011] IRLR 138 took too narrow an approach in suggesting that
any positive duty of disclosure arose only where there were relevant fiduciary
obligations giving rise to the duty.
See also Thomson Ecology Ltd & Anor v APEM Ltd & Ors [2013] EWHC 2875 (Ch)
(24 September 2013) which considers contractual duties of disclosure in relation to
competitive activity during gardening leave.
26